A content analysis of how astronomy is framed in selected South African online newspapers

A research report submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg, 2016.The aims of the study were to provide an overview of how online newspapers portray astronomy news in terms of framing and tone. The “tone” is used as a way to analyse and reflect on the mood of the article, whether the journalist reports about positive or negative news. The study sought to understand what aspects of astronomy news are covered by South African online newspapers because using real world examples and stories as a way of learning has a magnetic attractiveness to the majority of students. This is one of the reasons why a newspaper is the perfect teaching and learning tool because it is regarded as a medium that can heighten students’ knowledge, enhance students’ vocabulary skills, conceptual understanding and encourage a positive attitude towards learning. The study was underpinned by framing theory which suggests that presentation can influence the choices people make; it is a procedure where people improve a specific conceptualisation and change their perception about it. A mixed method was used since it combines both qualitative methods and quantitative methods to deal with different questions of the research study. A data collecting instrument was not required to conduct the study because the data was already available on the internet, however, the researcher developed and modified an instrument to analyse the available data. The Nisbet framework and a modified story analysis form were used as coding instruments. Newspapers articles were retrieved from the internet using search terms such as “SKA, astronomy, planets”. The samples were two online newspapers, the Mail & Guardian and News24 from 1st January 2012 to 31st July 2015. The quantitative results were divided into two, firstly for the Mail & Guardian and secondly for News24. Items that were analysed for each online newspaper were: news origin, news treatment, geographical focus, photos and graphics, framing techniques, the Nisbet framework, word average, and general reaction. The Mail & Guardian has longer news article lengths than News24. This might suggest that New24’s news articles are better to use since they are shorter and the aim of using newspapers is to make teaching and learning science fun and productive. The qualitative results indicated that astronomy articles in newspapers are flooded with scientific terms that are not explained. Teachers need to assess and make students think about the content from the newspaper story and to recognise that stories in the newspaper are written differently from school textbooks. The research study indicated that newspapers can be used and are useful in science class if they are used correctly and, at the same time, textbooks and other teaching materials are also used. The use of newspaper when teaching science is undoubtedly one of the effective ways of teaching science whether in an informal or formal learning context. Using newspapers increases students’ knowledge and improves students’ vocabulary skills to enhance conceptual understanding. Key words Astronomy, Mail & Guardian, News24, Story Analysis Form, Nisbet Framework, Informal Learning, formal learning and Science.LG201

A portrait of a school : Healdtown Missionary Institution (1925-1955) through the eyes of some of its ex-pupils

The study is on Healdtown Missionary Institution. A broad background has been given from 1855 when the Institution was established by Sir George Grey. The emphasis has, however, been from 1925 when the earliest respondents were admitted, up to 1955 when the Department of Bantu Education took over from the missionaries. This period has been deliberately chosen since Healdtown was largely run by the Wesleyan Missionaries during that time. It must also be mentioned that the administration side of Healdtown has not been covered, since Professor Hewson has given a broad picture of this aspect in his doctoral thesis (1959). Similarly, the situation in the classrooms has not been considered except where appropriate references have been cited by respondents. The stress is on the different activities that took place, mainly in every day life in the Institution. Some of these are the positions of responsibility held by respondents in the Institution and their effect on them (the respondents) in later life. This can be coupled with the contribution the respondents made to their communities after leaving Healdtown. The most important thing about the study is what has been revealed with regard to the three generations: the parents of the respondents, the respondents themselves and the children of the respondents. In this aspect a picture of how elite produces elite has been highlighted. To add more flavour, the memories, both good and bad, have been analysed and in order to see whether these are common or peculiar, a comparison was made with similar day schools (secondary) in Soweto. In the conclusion, especially, the limited opportunities for Black pupils to have secondary education during this period is also highlighted. This goes with the eagerness and efforts shown by parents to give secondary schooling to their children. Last, but not least, in the conclusion to this thesis certain deductions from the study have been exposed. What the graduates think about the future of the Institution together with how they view the pupils of the eighties has received a place. It must also be mentioned that the graduates seem to view Healdtown as having prepared them for lif

Measuring athlete imagery ability: the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire

Based on literature identifying movement imagery, observation, and execution to elicit similar areas of neural activity, research has demonstrated movement imagery and observation to successfully prime movement execution. To investigate whether movement and observation could prime ease of imaging from an external visual imagery perspective, an internal visual imagery perspective, and kinaesthetic modality, 36 participants (M$_{age}$ = 20.58; SD = 3.11; 18 female, 18 male) completed the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 under four modes of delivery (movement prime, external observation prime, internal observation prime, and image-only). Results revealed ease of imaging was significantly greater during the movement and observation prime conditions compared to the image-only condition (p < .05). Specifically when priming external visual imagery and internal visual imagery, observation only facilitated ease of imaging when the perspective was congruent with the imagery perspective. Results support the utilization of movement and observation to facilitate ease of imaging, but highlight the importance of considering visual perspective when using observation

Developing Students' Ability of Mathematical Connection Through Using Outdoor Mathematics Learning

The Purpose of this study is to determine the achievement and improvement of students' mathematical connectionability through using outdoor mathematics learning. 64 students from the fifth grade of Primary School at SDN 65 and SDN 67 Bengkulu City were taken as the sample of this study. While the method of the research used in this research is experiment with quasi-experimental designs non-equivalent control group. The results of the study are as follows: (1) There is an increasing ability found in mathematical connection of students whom taught by using outdoors mathematics learning is 0,53; (2) Based on statical computation that achievement of students' ability of mathematical connection is taught by using outdoor mathematics learning score is 71,25. It is higher than the students score 66,25 which were taught by using the conventional learning. So as to improve students' mathematical connection, teachers are suggested to use the outdoors mathematics learnin

Miscue analysis: A glimpse into the reading process

This paper aims to analyse Form One students’ ability in reading prose. A qualitative research method was carried out involving 6 average ability students. The prose “Fair’s Fair” byNarinder Dhami was used as an instrument to gauge students’ ability in oral reading. The assessment carried out on the reading is miscue analysis, a tool to measure oral reading accuracy at the word level by identifying when and the ways in which the students deviates from the text while reading aloud. Miscues analysed are insertions, hesitation, omission, repetition and substitution. Miscues that maintain the meaning of the sentences are the participants’ strengths while miscues which disrupt the meaning of the sentences are the participants’ weaknesses. The data collected are analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings show that the percentage of strengths outweighed the percentage of weaknesses for all the participants on the occurrences of miscues.  The students’ reading behaviour has provided insights into their language cueing system and the strategies they use during the reading process to comprehend a text

Desiring and critiquing humanity/ability/personhood : disrupting the ability/disability binary

The authors take up the challenge of Goodley and Runswick-Cole’s call to dismantle the ability/disability binary such that those now called ‘disabled’ can unproblematically join the ranks of those who will be counted as human. Using the methodology of collective biography, the six authors explore their own memories of becoming abled, and find in those memories a similar pattern of desire for, and critique of, humanness that Goodley and Runswick-Cole found in the participants in their own study, participants who were categorised as intellectually disabled. We turn to post philosophies to further develop the vocabularies through which the meaning of human can be expanded to include those who are currently viewed as less-than-human or other-to-human in their difference from the norm. Points of interest: - In this article the authors use the research method of ‘collective biography’ to explore their first memories of how they became able, and were recognized as normal and human. - We work with childhood photos to help open up our memories. - We challenge the taken-for-granted division between the categories normal/abnormal, able/disabled. - We argue that everybody is different, and that we all change and become able in different ways. - We are all vulnerable and we all desire to belong in the same world, irrespective of the categories we are placed in

Increasing the Ability of Children with Autism in Performing Oral Hygiene Through Photographs: a Single Subject Study in Indonesia

Autism is a developmental disorder in children that now affects 1 : 88 children in the world. As many as 50% of school-age children with autism face difficulty in independently performing oral hygiene. This research seeks to increase the ability of children with autism in performing oral hygiene through the use of photographs. The methodology of the research is quantitative quasi-experimental through the single subject design. The three research subjects are school-age children with autism, and their parents also participated in this research. Intervention is conducted through a series of photographs on the steps in performing oral hygiene after the ability trend in the baseline phase is observed. Assessment in the ability of performing oral hygiene is done in the baseline, intervention, maintenance, and generalization phases. The result is that the ability to perform oral hygiene for Children A, B, and C increases from 14, 21, and 22 to 30, 31, and 30. The ability to perform oral hygiene for the three children increases after intervention and settles in the generalization phase